


The Art Assignment or: How Brienne learned to always check someone's references first

by justme (silver_spring)



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, JBO Meet-Cute March Fandom Madness, Jaime in disguise, for now anyway..mwaha, no more making up tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 13:41:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10106582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_spring/pseuds/justme
Summary: Art student Brienne needs to finish (or finally get started on) her final assignment and books a model to pose for her. Pose nekkid, that is.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DanyelN](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanyelN/gifts), [GumTree](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GumTree/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I know nothing about drawing or painting or anything of that kind. What I draw, looks like stick in the mud.  
> This is unbeta-ed and I'm no native speaker, so chances are you will find one or two mistakes in there. Sorry bout those.  
> I'd like to dedicate this one to the fabulous GumTree and DanyelN, because those two wanted this story and without them, I wouldn't have written it. 
> 
> For the JBO March Meet-cute Madness

Brienne ran a shaky hand through her chin-length and strawlike blonde hair, biting her full bottom lip. There was nothing for it; she had to make this phone call and she had to make it today. Not a procrastinator in the least, she still had let the weeks pass by and now only had less than seven days to complete the final assignment for her art class. But the assignment was just so...embarrassing.

They had studied the human form all semester, had had models come sit in class, showing off different parts of their anatomy at a time for the students to look at and draw, sketch and paint. That had been bad enough already for a chronic blusher like Brienne. This final assignment however really topped it all.  _Painting or drawing a completely nude member of the opposite sex._ Their whole body! Thankfully, the assignment stated that primary genitalia didn't have to be included, so at least she wasn't going to completely melt into a puddle of embarrassment by having to stare at someone's penis for a prolonged time. But still, that left a lot of skin on display one could blush over. Brienne loved to draw and paint, always had, and according to all her professors she was genuinely talented, but right now she was really wondering why she had decided to study art if  _that_ was a requirement. No matter how often professor Waters, or Shae as she preferred to be called, had reiterated her mantras of 'We're all the same under our clothes' or 'There is nothing shameful about the human body', Brienne had put this project off until she no longer could if she wanted to pass her class. She knew that Shae was right, although all people definitely were not the same sans clothes; there was nothing shameful about a naked human body, we were all born that way and whatnot, but it felt damn odd to stare at one that wasn't her own for hours and sketch it.

Picking up the notepad she had jotted the number of a model offering their services on the bulletin board at school down on, Brienne went over the checklist again in her head. Agree on working conditions and payment, set a date, discuss availability for possible follow up sessions or if they were okay with her taking their picture instead of that. Oh and check that they were legal once they came over and have them sign the waiver that Shae had given each student. Actually, she should've also asked for a meeting prior to the painting session and a clothed picture of the model just to get an idea of what or who she was going to be working with, but she was short on time thanks to the putting-it-off-until-now and quite frankly: As long as the model was willing and free to pose on such short notice for her, it was of no matter to her how he looked. The bigger worry definitely was whether the guy was going to be a creep or not. Brienne knew asking them to come to her apartment wasn't the best solution, but she had no other option. She did however have pepper spray, a black belt in judo and a muscular 6'3'' body that pretty loudly said  _don't try anything with me_ .

Before she could find another reason to stall yet again, Brienne grabbed her phone and dialed the number. It rung three times before the guy on the other hand picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi..uhm..hi. My name is Brienne Tarth. May I ask whom I'm talking to?"

"Tormund."

"Okay. Hi, uh..Mister Tormund. I was--"

"Just Tormund."

"What? Right. Listen, I..I saw your ad on the board in the art department and I wanted to ask if you're available to pose for my class project some time within the next week?"

"What project?" he asked with a hint of suspicion.

"I..errr.. have to draw or paint a ..nude.. male." Brienne stammered out.

"Oh. Sure! I'm in."

"You are? I mean: You are. So..standard modeling sessions last about three hours, right?"

"Breaks included. And I get paid for the full time. But I can also do longer sessions. With more breaks, of course."

"Of course" she hurried to say. This guy was willing to do this, so she was definitely willing to eat ramen for a few days afterwards if necessary. "What are your rates?"

"I take 100 dragons per hour."

So, three hundred dragons. At least. Times like now would've been perfect for having male friends or even a boyfriend that were willing to help a girl out for free, but Brienne had neither of those and while she was not rich, she had enough in her savings account to cover it.

"That sounds fine for me. When would be a good day for you?"

"Oh, we can do this tonight if you want. I'm free."

Tonight? Well, actually she hadn't thought it was going to be that soon, but if he was available there was no point in postponing the inevitable. And maybe it was better to just get it over with as soon as possible. Brienne looked around the living room. With some rearranging of furniture and set up of her tools, canvas and easel, she could be ready in a few hours.

"Is 6 pm okay with you?"

"Better make it 7, I have some prep to do for these things and mom is not back from bingo before 6."

"Prep?"

"She just shaves my back and stuff for me when I have an art gig."

"Oh. You  _are_ of legal age, aren't you?"

"I'm 40."

Okay..well, that was definitely legal enough. She gave the guy, Tormund, her adress and phone number in case there were more questions or anything else he wanted to discuss and after receiving his contact info and address, hung up, relieved. Well, that hadn't been all that hard after all. But then again, it had also been the easiest part of this whole endeavour.

 

*

 

After checking for the tenth time that her charcoal was lying where she'd put it earlier and rechecking the positions of the three floor lights she'd put up around where up until two hours ago her small couch had stood, Brienne flopped down onto said couch and forced herself to stay calm. Around 5, Tormund had texted her that he was going to be running a little late and so there was nothing to do for her now but wait. Pulling up a thick tome with pictures of artpieces and works, she busied herself with finding a pose that she could have him take and that would look good as a finished drawing. Which was rather unnecessary; there was no way to tell what position would look good until she had seen her model. But it kept her hands occupied and forced her to remain sitting.

Once she'd hung up the phone, Brienne had gone about cleaning her little apartment, borrowed two of the three lamps now standing here from her downstairs neighbor Walda and went out real quick to buy a multiple socket for the lights, some snacks in case Tormund wanted something during his breaks and visit the nearest ATM to get his money. Back home, she'd pushed her couch out of the way, vaccumed for the third time today, got a bar stool from another neighbor in case they ended up doing a sitting pose and that was it.

Really, this waiting was agony. She didn't think the blush in her cheeks had receded ever since she'd made the appointment, at least it still felt as if her face was on fire. Thankfully, her usual painting speed was rather fast; there was hope that by the end of the night her blood would go back to where it was supposed to be and not accumulate in her cheeks anymore. Tormund had sounded nice enough over the phone, if maybe a bit odd, but nevertheless, Brienne just wanted this over with. Any moment now, there would be a man in her apartment, taking off his clothes for her to scrutinize him! Her leg started bouncing and she was getting even more jittery. The first naked man in her apartment, ever! For professional reasons of course, but still.

When the doorbell finally rang, Brienne jumped off the couch like a jack-knife.  _Just be professional, don't stutter, don't make it even more awkward,_ she told herself on the way to the door. Checking her pocket for the money she'd stuffed in there earlier and checking that the old baseball bat she'd taken with her to university on the insistance of her dad was still leaning against the wall, she took a deep breath. And then another. Then the opened.

"Hi, I'm sorry for--" Tormund began, but Brienne's nervousness didn't let him finish.

"It's fine, just come on in. I have everything set up already. Time is money, right?" she said, gesticulating for him to enter, which he hesitantly did.

"I guess it is...? You okay?" he asked, looking at her somewhat concerned.

"I'm just..well, to be honest, I'm really nervous. I've never painted a full nude and I just want this finished so that I can pass my class. And not have to drop out and work at the Varys call center for the rest of my days, because my summer job there was horrible. And I need to get my blood pressure back to a level that is compatible with human life and..I'm sorry, I'm being weird, and I'm babbling and you don't need that. I just.."

"Hey, take a deep breath, alright? It's all good" Tormund smiled at her. He had a nice smile as Brienne had to notice in spite of her brain going all haywire. Actually, he had a nice everything. And he definitely didn't look his age. He was almost as tall as she was, with perfectly tousled blonde hair, deep green eyes, straight white teeth and was definitely not a stranger to the gym. To be honest, he looked half a God.

"I'm sorry." Brienne said again after having followed his advice and just focusing on breathing in and out. Which was hard, because..well, there was a godlike creature not three feet away.

"No reason to be, ...?"

"Brienne."

"Right. Brienne. Pretty name. Now, you said you want to paint me naked?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"As we discussed on the phone this afternoon, I need to paint or draw a male nude and I have decided to draw. I got your 300 dragons here. So can we maybe just begin? I think I might be less nervous once I'm working. At least that's what I keep hoping."

"You know I think there's.." he began but trailed off. He gave her a long assessing glance and Brienne didn't even want to think about how she looked right now. Her hair was a bird's nest from running her hands through it again and again, she was currently biting her bottom lip that was already plump and too big without having been chewed on and wringing her hands in order not to do something stupid with them, like nervously scratching herself (It had happened. More than once). She knew she was staring at Tormund with wide eyes and hers were already large to begin with, so she most likely resembled a blotchy, freckly mess or a cow chewing on some cud. Highly professional, really. Not. She really wouldn't blame him if he wanted to get off this crazy train.

"Know what? It's nothing, forget it. Let's do this!" Tormund continued after a moment and a shake of his head.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely. Where do I.."

"Oh! I put a robe in the bathroom you can put on for the time being; it's right through there" she said pointing in the direction of her bedroom.

Her robe, but he didn't need to know that.

Tormund walked deeper into the living room, right to the center of the floor lights and began unbuttoning his white button-down shirt.

"Why bother? Seems like you'll get to see everything anyway" he shrugged.

Brienne couldn't help but give a little squeak once he started exposing a well-defined tanned chest with just the right amount of hair. Tormund looked up and upon seeing her, a smirk stole itself onto his features.

"On second thought, mayhaps I'll go change in there after all. Ease us into it?"

She nodded fervently and Tormund grinned at her.

"I'll be right back. Remember to breathe."

Once he disappeared from sight, Brienne actually found it indeed easier to breathe. She went to the kitchen and gulped down a glass of water, kinda wishing she had something stronger in her fridge.

When Tormund came back out, he was wearing her blue terrycloth robe.

"So...how..I mean where do you want me?"

"I hadn't made a definitive decision yet, but I'm thinking maybe you could sit on that stool and prop your head on your fist while your elbow's resting on your thigh? That should be a position easy enough to hold for a while? What do you think? Are you comfortable with that?"

Tormund scrunched up his nose.

"Nah..the thinker pose has been done about 10,000 times and you don't get to see a lot, just a guy sitting."

"That's..uh..totally fine. Not seeing, I mean. Less is more."

"Fair enough and, trust me, fine with me, but I mean, don't you want to show some detail..flexing muscle or tendons? I'm thinking...do you have a small plate?"

"A plate?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. How about a classic discus throw? Like in the ancient Westerlympics. That's nothing new either, but you can really flesh out the arms and chest muscles and..I don't know. I just think it'd look more interesting. More in-motion."

He had a good point, but it had to be done right to look right.

"Well..can you recreate a pose like this?"

"Actually I can. I used to be a decathlete in school."

"And you can hold it for a while?"

"I've never had a problem with stamina. Trust me, I can hold it for as long as you need to..finish."

There was an undertone in his voice that Brienne couldn't quite put into a category. Saucy, mayhaps? But then again, why would he be cheeky about his ability to hold a pose?

"Okay, let me get a plate and we can try how it looks."

She got a dessert plate out of the cupboard and brought it over to where Tormund stood, fiddling with the tie of the robe he was wearing.

"Uh..find the pose and I'll bring my easel over."

"Right" he said and gulped.

Pretty much pushing the plate against his chest, Brienne quickly turned around once she saw his hand grab the terrycloth belt with purpose.  _It's fine, he's done this often enough. He's the naked one so if anyone's uncomfortable, it shouldn't be you,_ she pep-talked herself.

"I'm good to go. I think" he called, although he sounded like he wasn't all that sure after all.

She grabbed her easel and turned around back again. He was in the pose, alright. That was a lot of smooth, unblemished, golden tanned skin on display! The arm holding the plate stretched out behind him and, looking at it, his chest turned in her direction, one foot, the one closer to her, on the ground, the other one looking like he was about to pivot, Tormund looked exactly like a discus thrower. A gloriously defined one. She could see his calf muscles, the ones in his thigh, the outline of one perfectly formed buttock, his ribs, pecs, biceps...perfect to work with, really. And, as she caught herself thinking, his mom seemingly had done a really good job, there was no trace of hair on his back.

"Are...uh..are you comfortable?"

"Piece of cake" he nodded, giving her a quick look, and quickly looking away which made Brienne think that maybe she wasn't the only one nervous here after all.

"Then I'll..err...I'll just begin. You'll tell me when you need a break, right?"

"Sounds good."

Grabbing her charcoal, Brienne began to outline the body. Soon she found herself 'in the zone' and her hand almost flew over the canvas. Tormund began to take shape in a small version.

"Have you ever heard that line about not many people being able to bear prolonged silence? I'm afraid I'm one of them. Do you mind if we talk?" Tormund spoke up after, well, she actually wasn't even sure how much time had passed. Half an hour maybe? A hour?

"Well, if it helps you, you can talk, but I really have to focus on this, so I probably won't add a lot to the conversation."

"How's it coming along?"

"I'm shading your legs."

"Already? You're fast."

"Uh huh."

"So what do you do when you're not drawing naked men?"

"I'm a full-time student, I don't really do much besides that. You?"

"Well, I just moved here, to be honest, so I'm still in my get-from-A-to-B-without-getting-lost phase. Listen: Could you perhaps obscure my face somewhat or at least make me not lifelike? It's just because..you never know who ends up seeing this, right? I mean what if you'll be some hotshot artist and they do an exposition of your early works in the National Museum or something?"

Oh crap. She had forgotten to have him sign the waiver.

"I think I can work something out. Uh, you will sign the release for the drawing, right?"

"I wouldn't be doing this if I weren't ready to see it through."

"Great. A man of his word. I haven't met many like you."

"Oh Brienne, there are no men like me."

She was inclined to believe him. At least, she'd never seen one as handsome as him in person.

"Do you need a break?"

"If I could just stretch for a moment?"

"Absolutely. I'll be right back."

Putting away the charcoal, Brienne made a beeline for the bathroom. When she re-emerged, Tormund was looking at her drawing, wearing the robe, but untied. He quickly crossed his arms over his chest to close any gaps for which Brienne was thankful. So far she had avoided seeing him full frontal, and even though she was positive he would be looking..err.. _fine_ down there as well, it definitively fell into the category of 'too much'.

"This is really good" he commented, nodding towards the easel. "You're talented."

"Thank you"

As always when faced with praise, Brienne immediately chose to deflect.

"Can I offer you anything? Water? A beer? A sandwich?"

"No thanks. I'm thinking you want to get back to work and to be honest, I have some stuff to do later, so.."

"Of course. Sure. Assume position?"

"At once, virtuoso" Tormund mock-saluted with a grin and went back to the spot he'd been in. Naturally, Brienne looked away again as he shrugged out of her robe. However, she didn't quite wait for him to call out before she turned back to her easel and caught him just as he was turning, getting a full glimpse of his butt. Suddenly, she had a hankering for apples..

 

*

 

With Tormund chatting away easily and her focusing on her work for the most part, the time flew by and it felt like it hadn't even been that long before Brienne felt that she was finished. There were still things to do and add, of course, lots of shading and definition, but the basis of the drawing was done. The rest she could work out on her own, especially if he let her snap a picture or two for reference.

"I think we are...done!" she declared happily.

"We are? Wow. That didn't feel all that long."

"Almost three hours."

A precision landing, really. Her cheeks still felt like they were beet red and her pulse was fluttering to the beat of the I-really-did-this-go-me! dance of endorphins, but Brienne was ecstatic. She was so relieved this whole thing had turned out so well and right now felt all kinds of accomplished. Like a real artist.

Tormund grabbed the robe again and went to the bathroom to change back into his clothes and Brienne went to grab the paperwork for him to sign which he immediately did upon returning.

"Listen, I really want to say thank you. I know it was just one job of many to you, but you've been great. You've made me feel so at ease and I..thank you."

"You're welcome." He smiled at her. "Your eyes really sparkle when you're happy, did you know that? They're absolutely beautiful."

And there went the hope for her cheeks to go back to normal some time today..

"Thanks. Well..here's your money."

"I really shouldn't ta--"

"No, no, please. Take the full 300. I insist."

Stuffing the wad of cash into his shirt's breast pocket, Brienne nodded vigorously. Tormund ran a hand through his hair.

"I think I--"

"Right, you said you had stuff to do.."

"No, I--"

This time the doorbell interrupted whatever he'd been about to say. Brienne frowned. Usually she didn't get any visitors that late. Perhaps Walda needed her floor lamps back? She quickly walked over to the door and opened it.

In front of her stood a tall red-headed man with a full beard and a canvas tote bag slung over his shoulder.

"Hi, sorry I'm so late, but mom won the jackpot at church bingo and decided to take her girlfriends for late mimosas" he rattled off while looking her up and down, finishing with a leer in the general direction of her not so well-endowed chest area.

"Excuse me, what?"

"You called me to model for you? I'm Tormund?" he explained slowly as if she were soft in the head.

"No you're not. He is." Brienne pointed to the man behind her.

"Is this a joke? Lady I biked up two hills to get here and mom nicked my ass three times."

"I..."

"Allow me to solve this mystery.." Tormund, well Tormund #1, spoke up from behind Brienne, walking around and standing next to her, his hand outstretched, a smile on his face.

"Hi, Jaime Lannister, your new next door neighbor in 4C."

Turning to Tormund #2 which apparently now was the only Tormund here, Tormund #1..err..Jaime fished his wallet out of his back jeans pocket. Brienne was still trying to compute all of this in her head and not making real progress.

"Now..as for you: I'm afraid you're no longer needed." he stated, pulling a 50 dragon note out of his wallet. "Here. For making the trip."

Tormund, the real one, looked from Brienne to Jaime and back again.

"But I..."

"Goodnight. And word of advice: Dude, don't let your mommy see your ass anymore once you're old enough to bathe yourself. You can leave now."

He crossed his arms over his chest again and stared at Tormund until he turned and stomped down the hallway, muttering to himself angrily. Then, with a chuckle, he turned back to Brienne.

"And..as for you.."

Reaching into the breast pocket of his shirt, he got the money Brienne had given him earlier and pressed it back into her hand. She was still somewhat perplexed so her reflexes made her close her fingers around it.

"Consider it me being neighborly. Now, I still have to unpack pretty much everything I own, but just in case you need to do some brush ups on the drawing...I like home-made food. If you can make a pot roast with extra creamy mashed potatos from scratch, I'm practically yours."

And with a wink, he was gone, leaving one flabbergasted Brienne in his wake.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)


End file.
